Thill-coupling.



No. 658,397. Patented Sept. 25, 1900.

0. H. PLATT.

THILL COUPLING.

(Application filedd'uly 18,1900

(No Modl.)

lhvrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR H. PLATT, OF CHICO, CALIFORNIA.

l'HlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATIOhT forming part of Letters Patent No. 658,397, dated September 25, 1906.

Application filed July 18, 1900. serial No. 24,029. (No model.)

1'0 all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OSCAR H. PLATT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chico, in the county of Butte and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Oouplings; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in thill-couplings, the objects in view being to provide a ball-and-socket coupling which is simple, cheap, and durable in construction, elfective in operation, capable of being adjusted to compensate for Wear, and adapted to limit the play or movement of the shaft in an efficient manner and prevent rattling of the several parts.

With these and other minor objects inview the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described,and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a thill-iron and coupling constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear end elevation of the same, showing the bolt-in section. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the bolt.

teferring now more particularly to the drawings, in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter A represents the rear end of a shaft or thill provided with the usual iron B, to which is welded or otherwise con nected the fixed section 2 of a longitudinallydivided coupling-iron, said fixed section 2 being provided at one side with a recess to receive a removable section 3, which is arranged upon the inner side or face of said fixed section and secured thereto by a bolt 4 or other suitable fastening device and a set-screw 4E. The rear ends of both sections 2 and 3 are provided with corresponding cups or hemispherical portions 5,forming the socket for the reception of the ball 6. The ball 6 is carried by a pin or bolt 7, which passes through the axle 8, and is welded or otherwise secured and holds the coupling applied thereto. This pin or bolt is formed at its forward end with a head 9, joined to the ball. by a neck having flattened side faces 10, which are arranged to move Within a slot or orifice 11, formed by cor responding notches 12 in the meeting faces of the on p-sections of the socket. These notches are provided with complementary diagonal end walls 13, which form shoulders Mat each end of the slot, which are adapted to abut against the curved top and bottom portions of the neck of the pin, and thus limit the thill or shaft in its upward and downward movements. The flattened side faces 10 of the neck portion of the pin adapt the sections of the socket to ride easily thereon and to be brought in close proximity to snugly and yet easily embrace the ball to prevent any independent play and rattling of the parts when worn, while the rounded top and bottom faces of the neck portion of the pin obviate all lia bility of awedging action of the pin on the shoulders 14, such as would tend to force the cup-sections of the socket apart to throw objectionable strain thereon when the shaft is at its uppermost or lowermost position and the weight is sustained by the ball 3. The shaft may be readily detached at any time by detaching the removable section of the coupling-iron, and the fastening devices of said removable section adapt the cup portion of the socket carried thereby to be adjusted with respect to the cup portion of the fixed section to compensate for wear thereon and on the ball.

It will of course be understood thatin use the ball-and-socket coupling allows the thill or shaft to play easily up and down to compensate for the movements of the draft-animal and also permits of the easy raising and lowering of the thill whenever required.

When the shaft is at the limit of its upward or downward movement, the end shoulders of the ball-socket come in contact with the rounded top and bottom faces of the neck portion of the bolt and hold the thill securely in position and without throwing undue strain on the ball or socket. The advantage of having these shoulders in connection with the opposite flattened side faces and top and bottom rounded faces of the bolt-neck will therefore be readily understood.

The invention is simple in construction, effective in operation, and overcomes the great objection incident to other couplingsof this type in that it provides for equable distribution of the strain and obviates all liability of separation or the forcing apart of the socketsections when the shaft is elevated or lowered and the weight thereof falls upon the ball. The particular construction of the balland-socket joint I consider of prime importance, as the advantages hereinbefore seti forth could not otherwise be obtained.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-1 ent, is

In a thin-coupling, the combination of a coupling-iron divided centrally and forming a fixed section and a removable section, said sections being provided at their rear ends with cups forming the complementary parts of a socket, said cups being provided in their against which the said end walls of the socket are adapted to abut when the thill is raised or lowered to the limit of its movement, substautiallyas and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

OSCAR H. PLATT.

Witnesses:

P. L. HAMILTON, CHARLES FETTERS. 

